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best format for output (intended for projection)
hello, i’m new to after effects but have been working my way through some decent animations. soon, i’ll be using them as live visuals for a band to play in front of. but there’s one thing that’s been bothering me lately: when i render out to a quicktime file, no matter if i have it set to “best”, there’s always pieces of the clip that look as if there was a paint effect added, this usually happens in dark areas (blacks) especially if there’s alot of movement against black. i wanted to know if there was a better format or just a setting that i’m missing, i know that when i project these onto a large screen these “smudges” will look alot worse than they do on my monitor.
thanks for any input,ignacio
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7 Replies
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Email me a frame to take a look at if you like (john.dickinson@foxtel.com.au)
John Dickinson
Motionworks
https://www.motionworks.com.au -
What codec are you rendering to? What is your playback medium for projection?
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as a newb, i apologize that i’m not quite sure what codec i’m outputting to? i always just set my resolution to full and post-render action to import. i’ll be projecting the clips as quicktime files.
someone i spoke with recently told me that my files are far too big for projection (some are as big as 300mb for a ten second clip), what way would there be to lower the size of these files without foresaking resolution? -
Codec refers to the type of file compression you are using. The codec you render to is defined in the Output Module of the render queue item. The default output module is Lossless, which creates an Animation (100% Quality) Quicktime file on a Mac. This type of file is great for intermediate storage because you don’t lose any quality, but the file size is too big for reliable playback from a regular hard drive.
If you will be playing Quicktimes directly from a computer to the projector, I’d suggest changing the Quicktime codec to Photo JPEG or Sorenson 3 to reduce your file sizes. However, my overall recommendation would be to render lossless, then put your video files on DVD or tape for playback.
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wow, very informative. thank you, someone was just telling me that i have to bring down the file size of my clips so that my drive won’t freak out during play back. by changing the codec to sorenson 3 or photo jpeg, is it just a way to reduce the size but will i lose any quality? what would be the inherent difference between a sorenson 3 file and a quicktime?
thanks so much for your input, this site continues to be a constant source of crucial assistance.
take care,ignacio
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Sorenson 3 is a Quicktime codec, and so are Animation and Photo-JPEG.
You should do tests. Render the same movie with multiple output modules, different codecs (start with the three above). When done, note the file size and data rates. Play them back on your hard drive, burn to CD and play, and upload to the internet and play. Note any skips and problems.
An animation-compressed movie will probably not play back on your drive at D1 res (720×486 or so). Photo-JPEG probably will. Both of those codecs are useful for intermediate storage, when transferring between apps when high quality is needed, but nowadays Photo-JPEG can be played back on most hard drives. Sorenson is a delivery codec, only suitable for the end-of-the-process deliverable, but it looks nice for its small file size.
By the way, you should buy Sorenson 3 Pro, since it offers Variable Bitrate encoding (VBR) which makes all the difference.
Hope that helps,
Steve -
sorenson 3 seemed to help alot. thanks alot for your input: as always, a huge help.
take care.
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